New Book Release: Jewish Law: New Perspectives

Jewish Law: New Perspectives by Suzanne Last Stone and Yonatan Y. Brafman, eds.

New Perspectives on Jewish Law combines the detailed work characteristic of scholarship on Jewish law with an orientation towards its broader academic and cultural significance. It shifts the study of Jewish law from its focus on legal doctrine and history to legal theory, achieving in the process a more sophisticated understanding of law that will benefit both the legal academy and Jewish studies. By employing the framework of legal theory, it similarly corrects an over-emphasis on the metaphysical presuppositions and philosophical implications of Jewish law, which has tended to cast it as exceptional relative to other legal systems. Moreover, it answers to old-new anxieties about law, often symbolized by Judaism, raised by contemporary feminists and by philosophers who are animated by recent interpretations of Paul through actual engagement with the Jewish legal tradition.

The volume consists of three parts. The first focuses on the critique of positivism, its implications, and the new directions that it opens up for the analysis of Jewish law. The second part takes stock of recent methodological developments in the study of Jewish legal texts and investigates the relation between Jewish law and the disciplines, including history, literary theory, ritual studies, the digital humanities, as well as traditional approaches to Jewish learning. It concludes with a reflection on these interdisciplinary contributions from the perspective of legal theory. The third part explores the connections among Jewish law, philosophy, and culture critique. It assesses the relation or lack thereof between Jewish law and modern Jewish thought, and examines specific issues of philosophical interest, including truth and normativity. It also investigates the image of Jewish law in the contemporary critique of law as well as how Jewish law could productively contribute to that debate. It concludes with a reflection on these studies from the perspective of philosophy of law.

New Book Release: Know Your Soul

Know Your Soul: Journeying with the Enneagram by Joseph Howell

Joseph Howell suffered from excruciating grief over his son's illness and death in 2008. A clinical psychologist and spiritual teacher, Howell's pain forced him to search his spirituality. An immersion into the ancient wisdom of the Enneagram revealed a pearl of vastly more profound knowledge than personality types. It was an Enneagram of nine soul types and their particular soul qualities. This discovery of the Enneagram of soul beautifully reconnected Howell to aspects of his soul that he was unaware existed. These soul qualities helped heal his overwhelming grief when little else could. This transformative experience led to this groundbreaking work. Years in preparation, this book is unique among those on spirituality and the Enneagram. Besides presenting Enneagram teachings, Howell tells intimate personal stories of how to recognize our soul type's unique qualities, and how the dominant ego becomes transforms into a servant of our soul. During the writing of this book, Howell and his wife, Lark, lost their only other child, Lauren. The Enneagram of soul is a map of truth that sustains their faith and their commitment to this work, even in this second great loss. People searching for deeper meaning and those who have experienced significant grief of any kind will want to read this book. Beginners and advanced students of the Enneagram will also benefit from it because it takes them from Enneagram basics to finer concepts of soul work.

New Book Release: From Scroll to Soul

From Scroll to Soul: Delving Into the Essence of the Week's Torah Portion for Actionable Insight by Steven Tzvi Gleiberman

Throughout history, only one text transends time and place, guiding us from the superficial to the depths of our existence: the Torah.

From Scroll to Soul is a two-year collection of writings that explore the spiritual essence of each week’s Torah portion, accompanying us on a mission of discovery to unearth the connections between the wisdom of the Torah and direction in our day-to-day lives.

As we turn its pages, we are invited to traverse the sacred messages of the Torah—those ancient scrolls that cradle the secrets of our existence. We unearth the insights that lie just beneath the surface and let us connect the ancient with the contemporary, drawing relevance from the timeless encounters within the Torah that actively speak to our lives today.

From Scroll to Soul is a personal invitation to unveil the layers that shroud the Torah's spiritual essence, reminding us that our own souls are connected and reflected within its holy pages.

New Book Release: Lost Loot

Lost Loot: Cursed Treasures and Blood Money by Jim Willis

Legendary treasures. Mythical robberies. Lost riches. Buried plunder and fabulous wealth. Hidden dangers. Ancient curses and deathbed jinxes. Captivating tales of lost fortunes, hidden caches, the eternal allure of wealth, and the heartbreak of mysterious curses!

Read about the pursuit of riches turning to grief in this mesmerizing story collection! A thrilling exploration of the world's most intriguing and dangerous treasure hunts, Lost Loot: Cursed Treasures and Blood Money collects dozens of fascinating stories of reward, riches, greed, and ruin, including …

• Curses, deaths, and centuries old treasure on Oak Island

• Searchers hunted down and killed before finding a gangster’s stolen riches

• The eternal quest for D. B. Cooper and his hijack ransom

• Elaborate booby traps protecting ill-gotten gains

• Cursed Aztec wealth lost as it journeyed to Spain

• Mysterious caves holding secrets in the Grand Canyon

• Montezuma’s revenge

• The train-robbing Robin Hood myth of the Sam Bass Gang

• Jean Lafitte and the Galveston Hoard

• The lost Dutchman mine

• Civil War coins hurriedly stashed after a brutal reign of terror

• The missing Fabergé eggs

• John Dillinger’s suitcase

• King Kamehameha’s burial chamber

• Captain Kidd's buried treasure

And more stories of doomed pursuits of plundered riches.

Tales of bewitching riches and hunts gone wrong, yet hope springs eternal. Lost Loot unfolds like a treasure map—but beware of the hidden, deadly obstacles!

New Book Release: The Book of Facts and Trivia: Science

The Book of Facts and Trivia: Science by Terri Schlichenmeyer

Entertaining, informative, and enlightening! Educational, eyebrow-raising, and profound. Science has never been this much fun! Take a weird and wonderful tour of the every branch of science with this treat of stories, trivia, and facts!

From Earth’s weight gain thanks to the many tons of cosmic dust that falls on the planet each year to William A. Mitchell, the inventor of Tang, Cool Whip, and Pop Rocks candy, The Book of Facts and Trivia: Science combines the educational, profound, and trivial into a fascinating collection of science facts! You’ll learn about yourself and the world through hundreds of absorbing stories and interesting tidbits such as …

• Kissing burns up to six calories per minute.

• One teaspoon of neuron star weighs about 10 million tons.

• There are more than 2 million ants for every single person on Earth. That’s approximately 20 quadrillion ants!

• Neanderthals and Homo sapiens first mated tens of thousands of years ago.

• Under the right conditions, some dogs – the super-scenters – can smell you some 12 miles away.

• Nine out of 10 mothers of newborns, after having spent as little as 10 minutes with their babies, can identify their infant by smell.

• The body of Marie Curie (1867-1934), the physicist who discovered radium, is still radioactive.

• The first multiplication tables were used around 2000 B.C.E. by the Babylonians.

• Star Trek characters used devices that looked and acted quite a bit like cell phones—well before the technology came to market. Touchscreen computers too.

• And many more science facts!

An absorbing guide to science answers, The Book of Facts and Trivia will treat you to a smorgasbord of stories, trivia, and facts!

New Book Release: Handy Quantum Physics

The Handy Quantum Physics Answer Book by Charles Liu

Quantum physics helps explain many mysteries of the universe. It underpins everything, but it need not be quantum difficult with this informative, accessible, easy-to-follow guide to the fundamentals and concepts of quantum physics and our quantum universe!

Quantum physics is all around us. It’s in electrical lights, lasers, and the color of the sky. Without it, the sun wouldn’t shine. It even explains how human eyes work. With its role in photosynthesis, it literally supports life. Yet, it had Schrödinger wondering whether his cat was alive or dead. It tells us that something can be both a wave and a particle and that two linked particles can communicate across the universe instantaneously! And it might even explain how the multiverse is real. Quantum physics is the key to understanding our complex world, yet even our most brilliant minds haven’t figured it all out yet.

Engaging and approachable, The Handy Quantum Physics Answer Book helps untangle this complex subject, making quantum physics and its impact on us, the world, and the universe entertaining and easy to grasp. From the basics to the theories and from the practical applications to the future, this illuminating book answers more than 800 fascinating questions so you can easily understand quantum physics, including ...

• Did the Big Bang arise from quantum foam?
• When did philosophers first consider the existence of atoms?
• What is the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated?
• What are quarks?
• What is quantum teleportation?
• What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
• What is the quantum principle used in MRI machines?
• Does entangled time mean the present can affect the past?
• Why did Albert Einstein say, “God does not play dice with the universe”?
• How is a black hole a quantum object?
• How does quantum physics appear in portrayals of space?
• Do we live in a multiverse?
• What is artificial intelligence?
• Are human brains actually quantum computers?
• How does quantum physics affect me?

The Handy Quantum Physics Answer Book provides a bridge between scientific concepts and everyday understanding, allowing you to grasp the wonders and implications of quantum physics. This compelling resource is for the casually curious as well as those seeking a deeper understanding of one of the most captivating scientific fields of our time. With 135 photos and graphics, this tome is richly illustrated. Its glossary of commonly used terms cuts through the jargon, a helpful bibliography provides sources for further exploration, and an extensive index adds to its usefulness.

New Book Release: Handy Civics

The Handy Civics Answer Book: How to be a Good Citizen by David L. Hudson Jr.

Citizenship Unleashed: Nurturing Democracy and Strengthening America! Delve into the essence of citizenship and the part we play in the functioning of our government with this enlightening guide!

From rights and responsibilities to creating the Constitution and the shape of the government, citizens have a central role in the governance of the United States. A vital guide that explores the duties and responsibilities of an American citizen, The Handy Civics Answer Book: How to Be a Good Citizen also explains the three branches of government and the political processes that influence their functioning. From intriguing historical tidbits to the intricate inner workings of the law, this book is a treasure trove of civics knowledge. This illuminating book answers more than 600 of the most intriguing questions about civics, citizenship, and the government, including …

• What does the Declaration of Independence say?
• What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
• How did the Constitutional Convention delegates deal with the issue of slavery?
• Who actually wrote the U.S. Constitution?
• What were the Federalist Papers?
• What are the Powers of Congress?
• Why did the Framers want to limit the powers of Congress?
• What are the duties of the president of the United States?
• What is the presidential oath?
• How was the U.S. Supreme Court created?
• Can Supreme Court justices be impeached?
• What is the Bill of Rights?
• What rights do citizens possess?
• What are some leading civic responsibilities?
• What legal duties may only citizens perform?
• What does a citizen need to do to vote?
• How does one become a U.S. citizen?
• What is the Oath of Allegiance?
• What does the U.S. Constitution say about state government?
• Who funds public schooling in the United States?
• Do state governments have police powers?
  
  
  Whether through the vote, exercising our free speech rights, defending our country, serving on a jury, respecting laws, staying informed, or respecting the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others, The Handy Civics Answer Book will arm you with the knowledge you need to be an informed and active participant in the democratic process. This compelling resource to Washington, governance, and civic duties is ideal for anyone interested in American politics and government or who is simply seeking to become a more engaged citizen. With more than 120 photos, this tome is richly illustrated. It’s helpful bibliography provides sources for further exploration, and an extensive index adds to its usefulness.